Dramatic shift: More money being bet on Clemson

There will be a lot of money bet on Monday night’s College Football National Championship game, and a lot of it is going to be bet on Clemson.

“People are really gravitating toward the Tigers,” said gaming writer David Purdum of ESPNChalk.

We spoke to Purdum this week about the line of the game, the “dramatic” movement it has seen since the semifinal games and why the betting public loves the Tigers so much at the moment.

The State: What’s the line look like right now?

Purdum: It’s holding steady at 6.5. The over/under total is 51. Alabama has been the favorite. Some books opened as high as 8. It quickly dropped down to the 6-6.5 range.

The State: How much did the semifinal performances affect the line?

Purdum: Dramatic shift. There were some early, what they call lookahead point spreads up in Vegas on potential championship game matchups and Alabama was favored by 11 over Clemson before the semifinal games. I think not only was Clemson’s performance and dominance so impressive that it moved the line, but I also think them playing second helped a lot. That’s the last thing the public saw. The books know that. Everyone was just overwhelmed with how impressive they were. Some people kind of downplayed Alabama’s victory, questioned how impressive they were. Eleven to 6.5, that’s a really significant move. I was guessing it was going to be 9 or 10. I was way off obviously.

The State: How much money will get bet on this game? Will this be the most heavily bet game of the year?

Purdum: Yes, absolutely, and it has really drawn a lot of good action, having the semifinal games on Saturday of a New Year’s holiday. They were able to get money throughout the weekend on that. Right now at several of the Las Vegas sports books, there is more money already wagered on the national championship game than there is wagered on the four NFL playoff wildcard games combined. Several million dollars will be wagered on the national championship game.

The State: Are there any trend lines on this game that stick out to you? Anything that says maybe one side or the other is the smart play?

Purdum: No. The betting action has really gravitated toward Clemson. The first $11,020 bet straight up on the money line at the Westgate sports book, $11,000 of that was on Clemson so people are really gravitating toward the Tigers.

This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 10:47 AM with the headline "Dramatic shift: More money being bet on Clemson."